“Pleasure to me is wonder—the unexplored, the unexpected, the thing that is hidden and the changeless thing that lurks behind superficial mutability. To trace the remote in the immediate; the eternal in the ephemeral; the past in the present; the infinite in the finite; these are to me the springs of delight and beauty.” ~ H.P. Lovecraft

Interesting Lateralus; I liked season 1 because it was telling the back stories of these individuals and it was intriguing to see how their pasts were interwoven into the present and thus influenced some of their behavior. Then the mystery of the plane crash, the how and why ... the mystery of the island ...

So you invest in the characters, start to "care" about them, then their fates are arbitrarily yanked around, they die, come back to life (or not) and they cease to behave in what you would consider emotionally consistent ways.

I guess that's what I object to most. The show asks for a suspension of disbelief on so many levels that I can't follow it there.

"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one."
― Eleanor Roosevelt

"When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad."
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Weird. I felt like they were far more emotionally consistent than other shows I've seen. Otherwise I wouldn't watch the show, I despise inconsistencies like that.

At worst, things dragged out too long without certain emotional situations being resolved. How long did the Jack/Sawyer/Kate + Juliette triangle/quad have to drag out before there was some sort of closure?

"Hey Capa -- We're only stardust." ~ "Sunshine"

“Pleasure to me is wonder—the unexplored, the unexpected, the thing that is hidden and the changeless thing that lurks behind superficial mutability. To trace the remote in the immediate; the eternal in the ephemeral; the past in the present; the infinite in the finite; these are to me the springs of delight and beauty.” ~ H.P. Lovecraft

^ I think I see what you mean too Jennifer - they play to the same weakness all the time in terms of each character. Granted, I gave up watching in the middle of season three, so can't comment beyond that.

Crime dramas don't take many risks in this regard, so it's not hard to accomplish.

You do the show a disservice to call it a simple crime drama.

Originally Posted by MacGuffin

Whoops. Forgot this aired last night.

It was a repeat.

Originally Posted by PeaceBaby

Interesting Lateralus; I liked season 1 because it was telling the back stories of these individuals and it was intriguing to see how their pasts were interwoven into the present and thus influenced some of their behavior. Then the mystery of the plane crash, the how and why ... the mystery of the island ...

So you invest in the characters, start to "care" about them, then their fates are arbitrarily yanked around, they die, come back to life (or not) and they cease to behave in what you would consider emotionally consistent ways.

I guess that's what I object to most. The show asks for a suspension of disbelief on so many levels that I can't follow it there.

I guess that's what I object to most. The show asks for a suspension of disbelief on so many levels that I can't follow it there.

Almost all television shows and movies ask for a suspension of belief. It's called fiction.

"We grow up thinking that﻿ beliefs are something to be proud of, but they're really nothing but opinions one refuses to reconsider. Beliefs are﻿ easy. The stronger your beliefs are, the less open you are to growth and wisdom, because "strength of belief" is only the intensity with which you resist questioning yourself. As soon as you are proud of﻿ a belief, as soon as you think it adds something to who you are, then you've made it a part of your ego."

Almost all television shows and movies ask for a suspension of belief. It's called fiction.

IMO good fiction create rules for the show/movie/universe and sticks to them. To create your mythology and then disregard it on a whim is the problem here.

For instance if Superman only is posited to only have one weakness and then all of a sudden a brand new one is pulled out of thin air, that is a fail. Continuing with the Superman example, one of the biggest fouls with the Superman Returns movie to those who actually followed the Superman legend was it shouldn't be possible for he and Lois to have a child, and yet for the sake of the plot, a rule of that universe disregarded. Supertards were not pleased as you can see by the lack of sequel.

Incidentally I hear they're starting over with the franchise with the guy who revived Batman in hopes he won't botch the job.

Can you give us a list of all the rules of Lost that were later broken?

"We grow up thinking that﻿ beliefs are something to be proud of, but they're really nothing but opinions one refuses to reconsider. Beliefs are﻿ easy. The stronger your beliefs are, the less open you are to growth and wisdom, because "strength of belief" is only the intensity with which you resist questioning yourself. As soon as you are proud of﻿ a belief, as soon as you think it adds something to who you are, then you've made it a part of your ego."

Can you give us a list of all the rules of Lost that were later broken?

The series endured thanks to the power of faith (coincidentally, a theme of the show) and a more modern expression of devotion — fandom. More to the point, faith in fandom: Lost’s producers never stopped trusting their viewers’ intelligence. Pressed for answers (which, let’s be frank, they probably didn’t have), the high priests of Lost instead delivered deeper mysteries. Queried about the flashbacks, they responded by flashing forward and even sideways into a parallel world.

This says it best. There were no stated rules, they just made it up as they went along. Which has been the complaint of me and the legions of people who abandoned the show at some point or other. Likewise as the bolded portion suggests, and as I state earlier in the thread, there were also many people who didn't mind so much and stuck around. I don't knock anyone for not minding, I just so happen to mind.